Label-holder



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

C E. WHEELER.

LABEL HOLDER. i No. 485,310. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

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(No Model.) '2V Sheets-Sheet 2.

c. E. WEEELEE. LABEL HOLDER.

No. 485,310. Patented Nov. 1.17892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES E. WHEELER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LABEL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,310dated November 1, 1892.

Application filed December 31,1891. Serial No. ll16.659. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, CHARLES E. WHEELER, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Means or Devices for Keeping Records of Railway-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in means for keeping .record of railway-carsthat is, the record of the movement of cars on the rails of Ithe home and foreign roads. By the Words home road is understood the road keeping the record of its cars and by the words foreign roads all other roads.

Heretofore car-records have generally been kept in books. Among the objections to this manner of keeping the records may be mentioned:

First. The liability to confuse records in giving the movement of one carto anotherby making the entry above or below the proper place allotted to the car.

Secondly. The work cannot be inspected without taking the clerk in charge from his work, and the latter necessarily falls behind.

Thirdly. Byreason of the constant leafing (meaning turning of pages) the books become soiled and the record rendered occasionally illegible.

Fourthly. It is customary with all roads to make a general statement once or twice a month, showing the location of cars on foreign roads, and to make this record from the books aforesaid is a work of considerable magnitude, requiring much labor and time. Within a few days after the preparation of the monthly or semi-monthly statement just referred to the cars are again scattered, and consequently the statement has become substantially useless.

Fifthly. In tracing for cars to other lines much time is lost by reason of the clerks in charge being obliged to again locate cars on roads to which tracers are to be sent. By the word tracing is understood ascertaining or obtaining information concerning the where# abouts or location of a car with a view to its return to the home road.

Sixthly. The record-books, to render them at all convenient, are adapted for but one or two months record, at the end of which time the last record of each car has to be trans ferred to a new book, incurring much labor and loss of time.

Seventhly. Much time and labor was required to arrive at the kind of cars, whether box, stock, coal, or [iat cars.

It is a matter of vast importance for a railway-company to have knowledge, if practicable, of the location of its equipment from day to day. To obtain this information from day to day, various means have been resorted to. It is not considered necessary, however, in this specification to render a more detailed description of the same than to state that all the means resorted to have been at best expensive and unsatisfactory.

To avoid the objectionable features hereinbefore enumerated and to dispense with the use of books and the large annual stationerybills for such books, I have devised the means hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a block employed in carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a card upon which the car-record is made. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a block with the card detachably mounted thereon. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the block. Fig. 5 is a front side elevation of a case in combination with which the block shown in the foregoing figures is adapted to be used.

A represents a block, preferably about eight inches long, one to one and a half inches wide, and a quarter of an inch thick. This block may be made of any suitable material, wood being preferred. Block A at one end is pointed or rounded, as at a, to facilitate its entrance into a pigeon-hole, as will hereinafter appear, and at its other end is quadrilateral in form,and has impressed,printed, or otherwise indicated upon said last-mentioned end, `as at l), the number of a car, and also bears an impression, mark, or design, as at c, to indicate Whether the car that the block represents is a box, stock, coal, or iiat car. The letter S on the block shown, as at c, indicates that said block represents a stockcar. The block is enlarged in thickness at IOO its ends, as at A ,and in the enlarged parts at the inner end are provided horizontal slits, as at ct', adapted to receive a card or cards or paper, upon which is kept the record of the car that the block represents. Slits a may be of any desired size and form, but are preferably sufficiently large to hold several cards and enlarged at the central portion and endwise the block, as at 0.2, whereby the card or cards or paper, as the case may be, the ends of whichare ofV a corresponding form, when inserted or slipped into said slits are not liable to become displaced. The card or cards at the head of the same of course bear the number of the car. )Vhen the slips or cards are filled, they areremoved and new ones inserted. A suitable case is provided in combination with which the block hereinbefore described is adapted to be used. This case may be of any suitable size; but, as shown, comprises, preferably, two sections D and E, section D being designed for the reception of blocks when the cars they represent are on the rails of the home road, and section E being designed for the reception of blocks when the cars they represent are on the rails of foreign roads. Section D is preferably divided into one hundred pigeon-holes or compartments D', arranged in tenv rows, both vertically and horizontally of the general compartment. The horizontal and vertical rows of pigeon-holes or compartments on adjacent sides of the general com partment are numbered serz'azfz'm from 0 to 9, as shown. The depth of the case, or rather the compartments, is preferably somewhat less than the length of the blocks representing the cars. Section E, that is designed, Yas aforesaid, for the reception of the blocks when the cars they represent are on the rails of foreign roads, is divided into compartments E', one for each road upon whose rails it is desired to know at any time the number of cars belonging to the home road or company. The size of these compartments and their number are of course entirely arbitrary, depending upon the extent of interchange of cars between the home road and the foreign roads. If the interchange of cars with a foreign road were extensive, the compartment allotted to suchY road for the purpose of classification and easy reference would be subdivided into two horizontal rows of ten pigeon-holes each, located the one row directly above the other, as with the compartment in the present instance allotted to the Pennsylvania Company,(Penna. Co.,) (represented by e.) If the interchange of cars with a foreign road were inconsiderable, the compartment allotted to such road would be merely subdivided into two pigeon-holes, located side by side or the one above the other, as with the compartment in the present instance allotted to the Union Pacific Road, (U. P.,) (represented by e.) When now a-car is moving on the home road, the block reprel senting such car would be placed in compartment D and assigned to the pigeon-hole that is in the vertical and horizontal rows of plgcon-holes or compartments bearing, respectively, the last figure and the last figure save one of the number on the end of the block. For instance, suppose car No. 12,564 1s moving on the home road. Block A, that bears No. 12,564, would be placed in pigeon-hole or compartment D2, the latter belonging to the horizontal row of compartments or pigeonholes bearing numeral 6, (last 'figure save one of car or block No. 12,564) and belonging to the vertical row of pigeon-holes or compartments bearing numeral 4, (last figure of car or block No. 12,564.) Suppose now that car No. 12,564 has gone to a foreign road and that such foreign road is the Pennsylvania .Company,(Penna. Co.,) (marked e in the drawin gs.) Block No. 12,564 wouldbe moved from sectionl D to the compartment of section E allotted to the Pennsylvania Company. The subdivision of this compartment into two rows of ten pigeon-holes each would indicate that the home road interchanged cars extensively with the Pennsylvania Company, the foreign road to which said compartment is allotted, and

block bearing No. 12,564 would be placed in Y the fifth pigeon-hole of one of the rows, preferably the lower row of pigeon-holes of said compartment, (t-he first pigeon-hole being O that is, if the pigeon-holes in said compartment were numbered, which is not, however, l necessary, the fifth pigeon-hole just referredto v would bear numeral 4. Consequently block bearing No. 12,564 (the last figure of the number being 4) would be placed in the pigeonhole specified. After the expiration of an arbitrary period, usually ten or fifteen days, that a car has been on the rails of a foreign road said car is properly the subject for tracing. Hence the provision of two pigeonholes-the one above the other-in the compartments of section E of the case. For instance, suppose that car No.12,564 has been on the rails of the Pennsylvania Company ten or fifteen days, as the arbitrary period may be. Block bearing No. 12,564, that is in the fifth pigeon-hole 0f the lower row of pigeonholes of the respective compartment aforesaid, is Vremoved from said pigeon-hole and placed in the pi geon-hole immediately abovethat is,into the fifth pigeon-hole of the upper rowof pigeon-holes of said compartment-thus indicating that car N o. 12,564 is a delayed car and properly the subject for careful tracing and watching. Likewise with the compartments allotted to foreign roads with which there is less interchange of cars and which therefore are subdivided into but two pigeonholes, as hereinbefore described. The block representing the'car that has gone to such Va road is placed in the one pigeon-hole, and after the arbitrary period of ten or fifteen days, or whatever it maybe, is removed to the other pigeon-hole ofthe compartment. As a car moves to any road the block representing said IOO IIO

car is removed to the proper pigeon-hole in the compartment assigned or allotted to said road :in the Vmanner hereinbefore described. It will readily be observed that by my inven tion at any time substantially-accurate information can be given of the number of cars and kind of cars on foreign roads'. A location statement -that is, a statement of the location of cars-can be daily supplied to the proper ocers of the company, the tracing for cars is greatly facilitated, the clerk in charge of any case can continue at work While a location statement is being prepared by another clerk, and two or more clerks can work independently at the same case. Briefly stated, the objectionable features had by the use of books for keeping car-records, as enumerated in the preamble of this spccilicatiomare, it is believed, entirely overcome. Block A, at the end bearing the number of car it represents, is preferably provided with a handle, as at A2, to facilitate removal of the block from one pigeon-hole or compartment to another.

I desire to have it understood that the details of construction of my improved block and case are susceptible of modification Without departing from the spirit and purpose of my invention.

What I claim is- 1. A movable block shaped substantially as shown and enlarged at opposite ends, as at A', said enlarged portions being slitted to receive the ends of a card or cards and the block bearing the number of the car Whose record the block is adapted to receive and bearing a mark, letter, design, or other character to indicate Whether the car is a boX, at, stock, or coal car, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A movable block havingenlarged ends, the enlarged portions being horizontally slitted at the inner end, said slits being enlarged endvvise the block at their central portion, the block bearing the number of the car whose record the block is adapted to receive and bearing a mark, letter, design, or other character to indicate Whether the car is a box, dat, stock, or coal car, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. n

In testimony whereof I sign this spec1fication,in the presence of two Witnesses, this 25th day of November, 1891.

CHARLES E. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

C. H. DORER, WARD HoovER. 

